Titanic
by ChickWithThePurpleGuitar
Summary: They called it the unsinkable ship. It was the only British ship to have Clanker engines; and the biggest ship ever made. The Titanic would be known for ages as the "unsinkable ship". And Deryn Sharp wanted nothing more than to be on it...when it sank.


**A/N: Hello, readers. Before we get into this, I want to apologize for the possible confusingness of the summary (if any of you actually read all of it). I realize it makes it sound like Deryn wanted to sink with the ship. What I meant to put across was that she wanted to be on the ship; and then it sank. Sorry if that confused anybody or made you feel depressed or anything like that. **

**Anyway, moving on: I made up this fic when I learned that the Titanic sank in 1912 (I pay attention to anything that happens around World War I time- you can make a drabble out of anything, after all). Today (April 14, 2012) is the centennial of the sinking of the Titanic (moment of silence please) and so I decided to post the fic today in honor of all the people who died that day. **

**Also, shout-out to EllieStone: I kinda stole her idea of Deryn hanging out on the roof of the barn; she uses this in her _amazing _story Someone Who Knows Her Place in the Sky- go read it when you're done with this. **

**Now, on to the story! I hope you like it and please review!**

* * *

April 7, 1912

"Deryn!" Mrs. Sharp called through the kitchen window. "Get the paper, will you?"

Deryn sighed and put her sketchbook down on the barn roof. Jaspert had shown her the clever hiding space atop the barn soon after their da had died, but it was proving to be not very clever after all since Ma kept finding her there.

As Deryn climbed down the ladder on the side of the barn, she thought about how her ma always seemed to have more chores for her when Deryn was up there drawing (which she was good at) than when she was doing something "practical" like, say, sewing (which she was barking terrible at).

And unfortunately, Deryn was forced into doing the "practical" things a lot more often; had been since Da died.

The girl was jolted out of her thoughts when a part of her dress caught on the ladder and ripped loudly. Deryn unhooked the ruined fabric from the ladder rung, grumbling about how her ma was going to kill her; then scrambled down the rest of the ladder to the ground.

Usually when Deryn was sent to fetch the paper by the mailbox in the morning, she grabbed it without giving it a glance; then rushed it to her mother so Deryn could go back to whatever she'd been doing.

However, this morning, something on the front page of the newspaper caught her eye.

The headline read: "British Ships Take Clanker Influence to Become 'Unsinkable'". **(A/N: Sorry, I'm not very good at headlines; that's why I'm a fanfiction writer- not a journalist)**

Interested, Deryn scanned the article below to find the main information.

"The _RMS Titanic _and her sister ship _Olympic _have been announced to indeed contain German engines instead of the usual fabricated beasts to power them. _Titanic _is scheduled to take off on her maiden voyage on April 10, with hundreds of passengers excited to take part in the test run of a British ship with German parts. Some people say the ship will sink, due to lack of patriotism to the country of its origin. Others say that the strong Clanker engines will make _Titanic _literally unsinkable." **(A/N: not good at articles either, sorry; once again, not a journalist)**

The article went on to talk about the layout of the ship, but Deryn stopped reading. She'd learned all she needed to know.

"Ma! Ma!" Deryn shouted as she burst into the kitchen.

"What is it, dear?" Mrs. Sharp asked, sounding uninterested as she washed the breakfast dishes.

"Ma, look at this article I found in the paper!"

Mrs. Sharp turned and her eyes widened at Deryn's clothing situation. "Deryn, whatever happened to your dress?"

"I caught it on the barn ladder," Deryn said quickly. "But never mind that. Look, Ma, there's this ship- the _Titanic._ They say it's unsinkable because it has _German engines. _No British ship has ever had those before, Ma- they've never been allowed in Britain. But this ship has them, and if I could get on it- oh, Ma, if I could get on it- I could draw them! I could get up real close and draw the engines. And, Ma, it'd almost be as good as flying again!"

Deryn said this all rather fast, so it took her ma a moment to process it all. Then, the woman sighed. "Listen, Deryn. We're barely living on what your brother gets us already. We don't have the money to put you on a fancy steamship. And besides, you're only thirteen. I don't want you out at sea by yourself."

Deryn looked down at the floor, trying to hold back tears. Her mother made all good points, of course, but- she just wanted this so _badly._

Mrs. Sharp sighed. "I know you want this Deryn. So I'll think about it, all right? But I can't make any promises."

"Oh, thank you, Ma!" Deryn exclaimed, hugging her mother tightly. "Thank you _so _much!"

Feeling as if she'd regret this later, Mrs. Sharp patted her daughter's back reassuringly. "All right, darling. Now, go take that dress off and put it in my sewing room, okay? You can put some of Jaspert's old things on for now."

"Okay. Thank you again. I _promise _you won't be sorry," Deryn said, giving her ma one last squeeze. Then she skipped upstairs, happier than she'd ever been since her da died.

Mrs. Sharp sighed. She just _knew _she was going to regret this.

* * *

Over the next few days, Deryn spent most of her time in her bedroom sketching. Using newspaper clippings to base off of, she drew the outside, and some of the inside rooms, of the _Titanic. _By April 9, the day before the launch date, he was sure she knew more about the ship than all the other passengers combined. All she needed was the engines.

Unfortunately, she never got to draw those engines.

Deryn was labeling one of her drawings as _Titanic Deck_ in fancy penmanship that would make her mother proud, when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," she called.

The door opened and Deryn looked up to see Jaspert standing just inside the room, looking nervous.

Deryn frowned. "What's wrong?" It was obvious something was wrong.

"Ma sent me up," her brother began. "With bad news."

Deryn's heart sank. The _Titanic _set off tomorrow. What else could the bad news be?

She couldn't go, could she?

By the look she gave Jaspert, he knew she'd guessed the bad news.

"I'm really sorry, Der," he said, using the nickname their da had always used. "We just don't have the money to send you to America, even third class. I'm sorry."

Deryn just shrugged, determined not to cry in front of her older brother.

Jaspert held out his arms for a hug, but Deryn shook her head. So he patted her shoulder and left the room.

Once he was gone, Deryn locked the door, sat down on her bed, and burst into tears.

* * *

April 15, 1912

"Deryn! Deryn!"

Deryn rushed downstairs the minute she heard her mother sobbing. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Ma didn't answer, just pulled Deryn into a tight hug and continued sobbing.

Jaspert, his face pale, answered for her. "The _Titanic_," he told her sister. "It sank- yesterday. Over a thousand people dead."

"If you'd been on it," their mother cried. "Oh, Deryn, if you'd been on it, you'd be…" she burst into a new set of tears, letting the rest of the sentence hang in the air.

"She would've survived, Ma," Jaspert said, joining the hug. "She would've escaped in one of the lifeboats."

"But what if she didn't?" Mrs. Sharp demanded. "Barely anyone else did! It would've been worse than your father!"

Deryn was starting to cry now too, and she could see Jaspert was trying hard not to. So she hugged her ma tighter and let her tears flow freely as she imagined the great "unsinkable" ship fall beneath the waves.

And for once- for once she was glad, no- _joyous_- that she wasn't on it.

* * *

**A/N: I didn't realize how much crying there was in this until now. Oh, well. It's supposed to be sad. Please review, and any religious people out there- pray for the people lost on the Titanic.**


End file.
